Packaging arrangement

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses a packaging arrangement especially adapted for use with food products, such as cookies or donuts, biscuits, rolls, candy, or the like. The packaging arrangement comprises a tray made up of portions which can be broken apart and with each portion adapted to receive and support respective articles. A sleeve like wrapper is provided for the tray and the tray may have serrations formed on one end to facilitate tearing the wrapper open at a desired place so the tray can be slid endwise from the wrapper and, if desired, returned thereto.

O United States Patent n51 3,661,249

Clemens 1 May 9, 197 2 54] PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS [72] Inventor: Philip M. Clemens, 1835 Pemberton 1,389,220 1/1965 France ..206/56 AB Drive, Fort Wayne, lnd. 46805 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair [22] Flled' 1970 Assistant Examiner-Stephen P. Garbe 211 App] 73 Attorney-Jeffers and Young [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..206/45.33, 229/2.5, 229/51 CE,

206/65 R The specification discloses a packaging arrangement espe- [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 65/16 adapted for use with food Products, Such as Cookies 58 Field of Search ..206/45.33, 56 AB, 65 R, 46 F; donuts, biscuits candy Or the like The Packaging 229/51 DB, 51 CE, 2.5; 220/232, 23.4; D9/183, 184, 187, 189, 224, 243

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,021,001 2/1962 Donofrio ..220/23.4 3,212,907 10/1965 Caprioli ..206/45.33 X

rangement comprises a tray made up of portions which can be broken apart and with each portion adapted to receive and support respective articles. A sleeve like wrapper is provided for the tray and the tray may have serrations formed on one end to facilitate tearing the wrapper open at a desired place so the tray can be slid endwise from the wrapper and, if desired, returned thereto.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMAY 9 I972 3,661,249

sum 2 [1F 2 INVENTOR. I| PHiLlP M. CLEMENS ATTORNEYS PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT This invention relates to a packaging arrangement and is particularly concerned with a packaging arrangement for bakery products such as cookies and donuts and the like which can be stacked or arranged in side by side relation on edge.

Many packaging arrangements are known for bakery products of the nature referred to with the objective of each arrangement being to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive package structure which can readily be opened. Heretofore, however, the packaging arrangements have been deficient in one or the other respects and have, furthermore, been defective with regard to ease of rescaling. Also, packaging arrangements according to the prior art have not been effective for preventing damage to the goods contained therein without special precautions being taken either at the time of packaging or during handling.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved package structure for bakery goods such as cookies or donuts or the like which is easy to use and which has advantages over packaging structures of the same nature according to the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a packaging structure of the nature referred to in which the articles are supported in a member which can be broken apart for removal of a portion of the contents from the package.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a packaging arrangement in which the articles contained therein are mounted in a tray like member which can be separated into parts with each part itself serving as a smaller tray member.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a packaging arrangement of the nature referred to which is easy to open without damaging the outer wrapping of the packaging arrangement whereby it is easy to reseal the packaging arrangement after a portion of the contents have been removed therefrom.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a recessed side wall at each receiving portion of the tray so that automatic loading devices can be used to place the product in the tray.

The foregoing objects as well as still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tray element forming an important part of the packaging arrangement according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the tray element of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section indicated by line 3-3 on FIG. 1 and showing articles in the tray and wrapping member surrounding the tray and the articles therein;

FIGS. 4, and 6 are fragmentary plan views indicated by section lines 44, 5-5 and 66 respectively on FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing a modification.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The structure of the present invention constitutes a tray member so arranged that it can be broken apart into portions with each portion forming a smaller tray for supporting articles such as cookies, donuts, biscuits, rolls, candy or the like therein. The tray, when filled with articles, is adapted for being enclosed in a sleeve like wrapper which can be torn open at the end to permit the tray to be drawn therefrom. The tray has serrated end parts to permit easy opening of the wrapper so that the wrapper can be rescaled after it has once been opened.

Since the several portions of the tray form individual supporting elements for the articles which are packaged, different types of articles can be included in the several portions of a tray and contained within one and the same wrapper.

The portions of the tray preferably have flat imperforate bottom parts which will support the portions upright when separated from the tray and which, taken together, form a bottom surface for the tray. Upstanding side and end walls for each of the portions of the tray confine the respective articles therein. The tray is made as an integral member, such as by plastic molding, and weakened regions are formed therein between each two adjacent portions to facilitate separating the individual portions from the tray member. The side walls are recessed from the horizontal plane so that automatic product loading devices may be used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings more in detail, in FIGS. 1 through 3, there is shown a tray member generally designated by reference numeral 10 and comprising three portions 12, 14 and 16, each of which has a central imperforate flat bottom portion 18 and upstanding side walls 20 and upstanding end walls 22. The tray member, except for the imperforate bottom wall portions 18, may be an open grid like arrangement for reasons of economy and appearance.

As will best be seen in FIG. 3, the end walls 22 preferably incline away from each other in the upward direction and this provides a convenient arrangement for receiving articles such as donuts or cookies which are indicated by reference numeral 24 in FIG. 3. These articles are set on edge in the individual portions 12, 14 and 16 of tray member 10 and when the tray is filled, the entire unit is enclosed within a sleevelike wrapper member 26 which may be a thin transparent material and which will be printed with an identification of the contents of the package, the brand name and similar information.

Between each two adjacent ones of the portions is a web 28 integral with the respective portions and provided with means forming a weakened region extending from end to end of the respective web portion between the tray portions on opposite sides thereof. In FIG. 1, it will-be seen that the weakened region could be provided by elongated apertures 30 arranged end to end in a web or by a series of small apertures 32 arranged side by side in the direction of the length of the respective web. It should be noted that the side walls 20 are provided with a V-notch adjacent the weakened region so that when the web is flexed the force will be directed to the apex of the notch to provide uniform breakage along the line of the apertures in the weakened region and side walls. In either case, a portion can readily be removed from the tray and when so removed the respective portion, due to its substantially planar bottom area and its upstanding side and end walls, will form a small individual tray for the respective articles therein.

For convenience in opening the wrapper element 26, the opposite ends, or at least one end, of tray member 10 is provided with serrations 34. By utilizing the serrations, a substantially straight line tear can be made in the adjacent end of the wrapper to provide an opening therein for removing the tray by sliding it endwise through the opening. If a portion of the tray is broken off therefrom, the remainder of the tray can be replaced in the sleeve like wrapper and the torn open end of the wrapper again closed to reseal the package.

In order to make it easy to break off the portions of the tray member, the tray may be molded by a relatively brittle plastic material'such as polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene. Other thermal plastic materials suitable for the formation of the tray member will suggest itself to those skilled in the art.

The identification of certain plastic materials for the tray member does not, however, preclude the manufacture thereof from other plastic materials or from forming it of metal, by die casting techniques, where the nature of the use of the article permits the use of the more expensive material.

As mentioned, the packaging arrangement according to the present invention lends itself to the packaging of articles which are all of the same kind but permits the packaging of articles of different kinds, for example, cookies of the same size but of different flavors or having different types of icing thereon.

while in FIG. 7 the serrations extend horizontally over the end rail member 38 which is the top rail of the outermost end wall vof an endmost portion of the tray member.

The aforementioned flat imperforate portions 18 of the bottom walls of the tray, in addition to serving as supporting regions for the tray member and for the respective tray member portions when broken off therefrom, are of merit in that they permit automatic handling of the tray member as by the use of suction cups or the like when automatic packaging procedures are followed at the time of assembling the contents of the package with the tray member. The top portion of the side walls 20 are preferably recessed, or arcuate in shape below the horizontal plane so that automatic product loading devices can be used for placing the product in each individual portion l2, l4 and 16 without impeding the entrance and and retraction of the loading fingers.

Modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A package construction, especially for food articles such as cookies and the like, and comprising:

a. a tray having a number of article receiving portions arranged in end to end relation,

b. each said portion being adapted to receive and support respective articles,

c. each said portion of said tray being provided with recessed side walls and end walls and a slotted bottom wall and is open toward the top,

d. said bottom wall having a number of planar central regions to that said tray and the respective portions when I detached from the tray will set upright,

e. at least one of said central planar regions of said bottom walls being imperforated so that automatic feeding of said trays by a suction cup device is possible,

f. a weakened region connecting each said portion with the next adjacent portion so that said portions can readily be broken apart without damage to the respective portions of the tray, and

g. a sleevelike wrapper member enclosing said tray and articles therein, said wrapper member being adapted to be opened at one end to permit the tray to be removed therefrom and thereafter, if desired, to be replaced therein.

2. A package construction according to claim 1 wherein said side walls are provided with a notch adjacent the weakened region so that when the web of the side wall is flexed the force will be directed to the apex of the notch to provide uniform breakage along a line of the weakened regm.

3. A package construction according to claim 1 in which said tray is in the form of a plastic molding.

4. A package construction according to claim 1 in which at least one of the outermost end walls of the end ones of the said portions of said tray is formed with serrations to facilitate the forming of an opening in said wrapper in a desired region thereof.

5. A package construction according to claim 1 in which each said weakened region is in the form of a web integral with two adjacent portions of said tray, and aperture means formed in the web and establishing a preferred breakage line extending along the web from end to end thereof.

6. A package construction according to claim 1 in which the said end walls of said portions diverge toward the top of the material to facilitate the breaking apart of said portions.

8. A package construction according to claim 1 wherein the side walls are recessed below the horizontal plane to provide clearance for automatic product loading devices. 

1. A package construction, especially for food articles such as cookies and the like, and comprising: a. a tray having a number of article receiving portions arranged in end to end relation, b. each said portion being adapted to receive and support respective articles, c. each said portion of said tray being provided with recessed side walls and end walls and a slotted bottom wall and is open toward the top, d. said bottom wall having a number of planar central regions to that said tray and the respective portions when detached from the tray will set upright, e. at least one of said central planar regions of said bottom walls being imperforated so that automatic feeding of said trays by a suction cup device is possible, f. a weakened region connecting each said portion with the next adjacent portion so that said portions can readily be broken apart without damage to the respective portions of the tray, and g. a sleevelike wrapper member enclosing said tray and articles therein, said wrapper member being adapted to be opened at one end to permit the tray to be removed therefrom and thereafter, if desired, to be replaced therein.
 2. A package construction according to claim 1 wherein said side walls are provided with a notch adjacent the weakened region so that when the web of the side wall is flexed the force will be directed to the apex of the notch to provide uniform breakage along a line of the weakened region.
 3. A package construction according to claim 1 in which said tray is in the form of a plastic molding.
 4. A package construction according to claim 1 in which at least one of the outermost end walls of tHe end ones of the said portions of said tray is formed with serrations to facilitate the forming of an opening in said wrapper in a desired region thereof.
 5. A package construction according to claim 1 in which each said weakened region is in the form of a web integral with two adjacent portions of said tray, and aperture means formed in the web and establishing a preferred breakage line extending along the web from end to end thereof.
 6. A package construction according to claim 1 in which the said end walls of said portions diverge toward the top of the tray and each said weakened region is in the form of a web integral with the upper edges of adjacent ones of the end walls of a pair of adjacent ones of said portions, each web having aperture means therein establishing a preferred breakage line in the respective web extending from end to end of the web in a direction generally parallel to said end walls.
 7. A package construction according to claim 6 in which said tray is in the form of a molding of relatively brittle plastic material to facilitate the breaking apart of said portions.
 8. A package construction according to claim 1 wherein the side walls are recessed below the horizontal plane to provide clearance for automatic product loading devices. 